LOS ANGELES — A federal grant jury issued a brand new indictment Tuesday in opposition to a dive boat captain, alleging that he acted with gross negligence when a 2019 fireplace aboard his vessel led to the deaths of 34 individuals off the Southern California coast.
The brand new indictment comes greater than a month after a decide threw out the unique case as a result of it didn't specify that Capt. Jerry Boylan acted with gross negligence aboard the Conception throughout one of many deadliest maritime disasters in latest U.S. historical past.
Boylan, 68, is once more charged with a single rely of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a pre-Civil Warfare statute colloquially generally known as “seaman’s manslaughter” that was designed to carry steamboat captains and crew liable for maritime disasters. He faces 10 years in jail and is anticipated to be arraigned within the coming weeks. His federal public defenders didn't instantly return a request for remark Tuesday.
Households of 11 victims praised the brand new cost in opposition to Boylan.
“This tragedy was completely preventable and on account of his negligence and inaction 34 lives had been misplaced and our lives modified without end,” the households stated in a press release.
The Conception went down in flames on Sept. 2, 2019, close to an island off the coast of Santa Barbara. All 33 passengers and a crew member who had been trapped in a bunk room under deck died. Boylan and 4 different crew members escaped.
Tuesday’s indictment alleges that Boylan “acted with a wanton or reckless disregard for human life by participating in misconduct, gross negligence and inattention to his duties.” He's accused of failing to coach his crew, conduct fireplace drills and submit a roving evening watchman on the boat when the fireplace ignited.
Though federal security investigators by no means discovered the reason for the fireplace, officers blamed the house owners of the vessel, Reality Aquatics Inc., for a scarcity of oversight, although they weren't charged with against the law.
Reality Aquatics sued in federal courtroom beneath a provision in maritime legislation to keep away from payouts to the households of the victims. Members of the family of the useless have filed claims in opposition to boat house owners Glen and Dana Fritzler and the corporate, and have sued the U.S. Coast Guard.
Boylan initially was indicted on 34 counts of misconduct or neglect of ship officer — which the preliminary indictment known as seaman’s manslaughter — in 2020, with every carrying a attainable jail time period of 10 years if he was convicted. Protection legal professionals sought to dismiss these expenses as a result of they argued the deaths had been the results of a single incident and never separate crimes.
Earlier than that concern may very well be argued in courtroom, prosecutors bought a superseding indictment this summer time charging Boylan with just one rely alleging his negligence triggered all 34 deaths. If convicted, he would have confronted a most of 10 years in jail.
However in September, on the third anniversary of the tragedy, U.S. District Decide George Wu stated that indictment didn't point out gross negligence, which he stated was a required factor to show the crime of seaman’s manslaughter.